January 2011

13th January 2011

2:05 PM — Large public employers are being encouraged to find out how represented lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people are in their organisations. As part of the Equality Act, all public bodies will be required to publish information about the diversity of their staff from April but the government will not set diversity targets.

11:56 AM — Gay couples living in Ireland who have married or had a civil partnership abroad will be recognised as civil partners from today. The change is part of Ireland's new civil partnership laws, which give gay couples almost all the rights of marriage.

10:53 AM — A transgender drug dealer was spared prison after a judge said placing her in a men's facility would prolong her "sexual nightmare". Jean Morris, 41, was convicted of possessing Class C drug ketamine with intent to supply.

12th January 2011

5:11 PM — The police chief of Palm Springs has resigned after targeting gay tourists in an undercover sex sting. David Dominguez was also recorded apparently using the word 'faggot' and one of his detectives used the word 'c*******er' about a suspect.

4:30 PM — A Ghanaian reggae artist has been criticised after he called homosexuality a "disorder" in an interview. Blakk Rasta told GhanaMusic.com: "It is not the normal concept of life. Every man must sex a woman and not otherwise. Homosexuality is a mental/genetically disorder, in my opinion."

3:58 PM — The US state of Arizona has quickly pushed through legislation to ban the picketing of funerals. The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church had planned to picket the funeral of a nine-year-old girl to gain publicity but now says it will not disrupt the event in exchange for air time on radio stations.

3:08 PM — The UK's only national independent LGBT news archive is moving to London. The Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA) is currently housed at Middlesex University's Cat Hill campus but will move to the Bishopsgate Institute this month before the Cat Hill campus closes.

2:14 PM — Gay lobbying group Stonewall has named the Home Office as the best place for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to work in the UK. The group released its annual list of the 100 top employers today. Lloyds Banking Group and Ernst & Young were in second and third place respectively.

1:21 PM — Where do we draw the line between religious freedom and free speech on the one hand, and public order and the protection of minorities on the other hand? Should people of faith have the right to express views that others find offensive and bigoted?

11th January 2011

5:42 PM — Ninety-nine PinkNews.co.uk readers said they complained directly to the BBC over an interview with a homophobic preacher who supports the death penalty for gays. The corporation has refused to release the number of complaints.

5:02 PM — Hillary Clinton says she's tried to put LGBT rights "near the top" of the Obama administration's foreign agenda. In an interview with US gay magazine The Advocate, Ms Clinton said there was a "rising global tide of violence" against LGBT people around the world and said America was "taking the lead" in making changes.

4:38 PM — The Ugandan opposition leader has reportedly suggested that homosexuality should be decriminalised. Kizza Besigye, who leads a four-party opposition group, is to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in a vote next month.

2:48 PM — Irish independent senator David Norris is ahead in the race for the Irish presidency, an opinion poll predicts. The gay politician was favoured by 27 per cent of the 1,001 people surveyed by Red C for Paddy Power.

1:40 PM — Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir says he was surprised by the press reaction to his coming out as gay. Speaking to NBC's Today show, he said he saw no reason to "celebrate" his sexual orientation.

10:52 AM — McDonald's says it has begun lifting the blocks on some gay websites in its New Zealand restaurants. The fast food giant was criticised by gay website GayNZ.com for blocking non-sexually explicit gay websites on its customer wifi network.

10:33 AM — A gay priest has been sacked for "inappropriate" conduct after he sexually propositioned a gay couple who were staying with him. The Rev David Gilmore, rector of St Anne's Anglican Church in Soho, was barred from working as a priest for two years.

10th January 2011

5:30 PM — A pro-gay US congresswoman is in a critical condition and six people were killed after a gunman opened fire at her public meeting in Arizona. Gabrielle Giffords, of Tucson, remains gravely ill in hospital after being shot in the head at close range.

4:20 PM — Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for progress on gay marriage by the end of this year. Speaking on Saturday on the tenth anniversary of the equal age of consent, he said that there was more to do on marriage equality.

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